09/08/2026
LAFON COUNTY
EASTERN Equatoria State authorities have confirmed five hunger related deaths in Lafon County as a severe food crisis driven by prolonged drought spreads across several counties.
The deaths were reported following a joint humanitarian assessment, according to Christine Kato, chairperson of the Eastern Equatoria State Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
Kato warned that the crisis was no longer confined to Lafon and that severe food shortages linked to drought and crop failure had also been reported in Magwi, Torit and Greater Kapoeta.
โAfter the Lafon assessment, I started receiving reports from different counties - Torit County, Kidepo Valley, Kapoeta, even in Imehejek - concerning hunger,โ she said.
According to Kato, families are increasingly selling goats at very low prices in order to buy food, while others are leaving their homes in search of assistance and livelihood opportunities.
She said people had fled to Palotaka, Magwi, Juba, Uganda and the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, and that some villages in the affected areas had become partially deserted.
The state relief commission is coordinating emergency assessments with humanitarian agencies and preparing a report for the national Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to seek urgent food assistance and nutrition support for malnourished children, Kato said.
South Sudan has repeatedly faced food crises linked to conflict, drought and flooding, with humanitarian agencies warning that climate shocks are increasingly threatening livelihoods in rural communities.
Source: Radio Miraya
